When the whole world decides it’s a perfectly sunny day to turn against you (and trust me, it happens way more often than you think!), there's little you can do about it. You can sit in denial, go into a full breakdown without a return ticket, or you can laugh your ass off through staring straight into the depths of your pain.
In fact, there’s a whole online community dedicated to this coping mechanism where people share examples of self-deprecating humor. No wonder it’s such a huge success! Created in 2016, the r/2meirl4meirl subreddit has a whopping 1.3M members who come here for a daily fix.
I mean, if we cannot fight that pain, at least we can sit right next to it and have a good laugh at each other. So scroll down and upvote your favorite posts!
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Their DIY skills are pathetic because the Boomers DIDN'T teach them!
A growing body of research has suggested that laughing during difficult situations may help to ease our pain and distress. In order to find out how that works, we reached out to Jennifer Williams, the founder of Heartmanity, which provides people with support and vital skills needed to create a healthy and thriving life with relationships that enrich and uplift us. Heartmanity provides groundbreaking skills and programs based on brain science and 30 years of experience.
Jennifer explained that an ability to laugh during painful or difficult situations requires resilience, which is an emotional intelligence ability. “Humor and laughter during tough times don’t mean that we are not taking our lives seriously, but rather, laughing acts like a release valve on a pressure cooker.”
Moreover, “This resilient mindset stems from innate confidence in ourselves to handle life’s curveballs and challenges successfully. The quality of our life is not about what happens to us; it’s about how we interpret and respond to our experiences,” she explained.
Hard work, persistence, and never giving up... The things that arrogant toxic-positivity personal development life coaches tell you to do so you feel more miserable and buy more of their books.
Moreover, growing your inner optimist and practicing mindful optimism trains our brains to see the good even when things go awry. Jennifer said that in this way, we start seeing the world through a new lens. “Laughter and humor are wonderful ways to release stress and reset our perspective.”
Went to do laundry, only had .50 left, went next door to kfc to just get a biscuit, came back to sit down, opened the lil box , I almost cried, the cashier put in a lil drumstick with it, he was a young teenager, I will never forget
Scrambling through clothes and change in my room to see if I can find enough to buy gas to get me to work and back two days before payday. And this was back in the day when gas was 99 cents a gallon. I was counting out change to prepay for gas so I didn't go over one time. When I pumped the gas, it went over by $5 and I hadn't noticed. Horrified, I went in and told them I had no money to pay the overage. They said the lady behind me earlier gave them the money to put on the pump. She drove away before I could say thank you. Also trying to hide the fact that my stomach was rumbling all day because I was running out of food in the house and could only afford to eat dinner. If my stomach was empty at night, I couldn't sleep. And never having the ability to get to the food bank because the hours I had to work were the same hours the food bank was open. That's why I look out for neighbors and strangers that are struggling...kindness helps out more than you realize.
I remember those 99¢ a gallon days, then it went up drastically to over a dollar. I hope you're in a much better financial situation nowadays. Yes, I completely agree about being kind to neighbors and strangers, and it feels good to help.
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I needed toilet paper and a dinner. There was a shop that sold single rolls of both paper and bread. Still couldn't afford both. I bought the one roll of bread - and took napkins from a fast food restaurant... The next day I had to fast. Don't exactly miss those days but strangely I was happier then than now.
While temporarily homeless, literally living in am abandoned van down by the river; I landed a job, but had two weeks til first paycheck. I took my last $10 and went to the shop and bought the cheapest canned food they had to carry me through the 2 weeks (got only about 8 cans). Rushed to the van, starving and thats when I realized...I didnt have a can opener (LOL) cried, laughed, cried, laughed. I now laugh about it but then...it really hit me hard, taught me to slow down and think things through.
Shoplifting food just to be able to eat, I'm not proud of it, but desperation makes you do some weird sh*t
Homeless and couch-surfing, and selling plasma to have money to buy groceries.
Yes, I used to sell plasma twice per week for a little extra money.
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Telling your child he doesn't even get a birthday cake for his birthday let alone any presents while standing in line at a food pantry. Someone overheard conversation and told staff at food pantry. When finally at front of line, staff member brings out a cake that had been donated by local bakery. Big carrot cake with nuts covering the sides. My child doesn't like carrot cake and can't eat nuts but it is his most memorable birthday because somebody cared.
I ran from my abusive husband and had 0 money. I sold my gold earrings. I hate gold anyway
I'm really proud of you!! I hope you're better now <3
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One time I stole beer from a homeless drunk. I was also a homeless drunk at the time.
Oh man. I am so sorry. I am hoping things turn around for you really soon.
@ work we have that tradition to order pizza or sum every friday and eat together. The two bosses take turns with paying. This used to be the only warm meal I got over the week
That is seriously broke. When I was a cashier, I'd have told you to take it, too, and paid out of my own pocket. A little kindness goes a long way.
My grandma sent me $10 to buy powdered milk for my kids. I had a graduate degree and a husband who was in graduate school. Lost my job because I had a baby and a sexist boss. The actor pretending to be president at the time had vetoed the family leave act. It took 11 months to find a new job because my field discourages lateral hiring.
Stealing toilet paper from a hotel my ex lived by because we were teens and when staying at his place...alcohol came first for the adults
Trying to find change in the seats in the car so I could buy tampons - even just one.
Between jobs in Fresno, CA in 1989, with an empty refrigerator and nothing to eat except peanut butter and a box of Rice Krispies, wearing dirty clothes because I couldn’t afford the laundromat. I found a nickel in the street, so beat up I had to handle it carefully not to cut myself. I got lucky that mother came by a few days later and took me grocery shopping. When she asked why I hadn’t called her to ask for help, I showed her the nickel and three pennies I’d later found. Pay phones were $0.10. Being the f***up teenager I was, it was only a few months later that I ended up in the same situation again, this time with nothing to eat but cans of tuna for 11 days. Half a can for breakfast, half a can for dinner.
The brokest I have ever been was trying to buy a coffee for my dad and the rude cashier telling me that she would have to charge me for two coffees because I used an extra cup to keep my hand from burning. I didn't have enough money for two coffees, so I didn't get any.
When asked whether self-deprecating humor can be seen as a useful coping mechanism, Jennifer said that since she believes that we need self-compassion to be at our best, she’s not a fan of self-deprecating humor as a coping mechanism. “In my experience, when a person uses this kind of humor, they tend to be avoiding the reality of what is happening (evading tough emotions like grief or anger) and can be neglecting to take responsible action.”
Even though poking fun at ourselves is a healthy part of humility, the founder of Heartmanity believes that since deprecating means “to belittle or cheapen,” this type of humor can backfire, so you have to be careful. It may cause us to “feel more overwhelmed and less equipped to handle what we are facing in life,” Jennifer warned.
Me : "I'm depressed." Therapist : "Well, don't be." Me : "I don't pay you to sound like my parents!" Therapist : "You don't pay me, you are French."
“On the other hand, science shows that gratitude helps to alleviate stress, offsets psychological disorientation caused by unexpected suffering, and increases positive emotions and a sense of well-being. Therefore, regularly practicing gratitude is a far more effective strategy for stress.”
Jennifer concluded that “through appreciation, we keep what is most important to us top of mind, and then we can better stay encouraged in difficult or painful situations.”
How to get a restraining order, how to find the worst retirement house in the world...
I just like the way it makes my skin tingle on a cold morning. The fact that I live alone has nothing to do with it. Probably.
Same... I hate being a people pleaser only to forget to take care of myself
Looking at little screen, reads this, looks up at big screen...aw snap
Signed off work. Now have lots of weird and witchy hats that make people smile. And clothing colours that resemble an explosion in a paint factory.
Coping mechanisms are the only things that keep you alive. My favorite ones are denial and rationalization.
Comparing yourself to others is the best way to become unhappy. Thats why people love Instagram so much. It brings a lot of easy accessible misery in your life.
Looking at the way things are going in the world today, this might be the wisest thing to do.
That's just the doctrine that all governments use. "Your personal interests are not important to our society." also "Climate change happens because YOU drive a car."
Still better than "pull yourself up by your bootstraps and count your blessings".
and for each 7 year old doing that, there is probably a few thousand 7 year olds working in dangerous mines and jobs in unspeakable conditions ,
Note: this post originally had 98 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
As i understand from the comments we are many little sad bored pandas around here :(
I feel that many if not the majority of people have mental illneses. But since it is a taboo in our society we all think that we are all alone in this :(
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I find a small measure of comfort with my fellow pandas. Big hug to all. One thing a day and one thing at a time.
We aren’t alone, we may feel it but feelings aren’t facts. Putting the phone down and going in nature is the only thing that helps me. My depressed brain says isolate and zone out on screens but getting exercise and seeing the blue sky is what our brains need. I wish everyone hope and joy ❤️
i was going to coment on all the ones I relate to, but i didn't want to comment on all of them
I frequently wish I could be 'normal' for any given definition of normal. Physically I hurt like I'm a 90 year old, I'm so overweight because I'm in so much pain that it's causing more weight gain, my brain hates me, it makes me feel like everything I do is wrong and inadequate, I have zero energy to do anything but the bare minimum to keep myself clean and my clothes clean.
Can't all sad bored pandas meet up and have fun the rest of their lives?
That was really good to read.finally...i m not a spoiled brat who plays cheap drama at 37. Thank you❤🖤
I don't understand,honestly after all these discoveries,inventions and all these efforts to make a civilisations,are we all collectively becoming depressed and existential as a society?Is this really all our own faults like our brains tell us or is this just the algorithm of life you know pain - eee-pain-eee. Those eee s are me pretending to smile.I hope you're happy.
I (partly) blame TV and movies containing fake perfect living and happy endings that give us unrealistic expectations and make us feel like we don't measure up if we don't buy all the carp they're selling us to make us sexier, smell "better", feel special by getting the "next big new thing", etc.
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Hugs out to all my fellow sad pandas using our weird sense of humour.
This post reminds me of an old Monty Python skit where folks were complaining about how hard their lives had been as children, each participant trying to one-up the previous one. "Every day we'd have to get up at 3 a.m., two hours before we went to bed, and lick the driveway clean..." Was there some kind of prize in the offing for who could sound the most pathetically miserable?
The world doesn't revolve around you. Learn some empathy.
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As i understand from the comments we are many little sad bored pandas around here :(
I feel that many if not the majority of people have mental illneses. But since it is a taboo in our society we all think that we are all alone in this :(
Load More Replies... I find a small measure of comfort with my fellow pandas. Big hug to all. One thing a day and one thing at a time.
We aren’t alone, we may feel it but feelings aren’t facts. Putting the phone down and going in nature is the only thing that helps me. My depressed brain says isolate and zone out on screens but getting exercise and seeing the blue sky is what our brains need. I wish everyone hope and joy ❤️
i was going to coment on all the ones I relate to, but i didn't want to comment on all of them
I frequently wish I could be 'normal' for any given definition of normal. Physically I hurt like I'm a 90 year old, I'm so overweight because I'm in so much pain that it's causing more weight gain, my brain hates me, it makes me feel like everything I do is wrong and inadequate, I have zero energy to do anything but the bare minimum to keep myself clean and my clothes clean.
Can't all sad bored pandas meet up and have fun the rest of their lives?
That was really good to read.finally...i m not a spoiled brat who plays cheap drama at 37. Thank you❤🖤
I don't understand,honestly after all these discoveries,inventions and all these efforts to make a civilisations,are we all collectively becoming depressed and existential as a society?Is this really all our own faults like our brains tell us or is this just the algorithm of life you know pain - eee-pain-eee. Those eee s are me pretending to smile.I hope you're happy.
I (partly) blame TV and movies containing fake perfect living and happy endings that give us unrealistic expectations and make us feel like we don't measure up if we don't buy all the carp they're selling us to make us sexier, smell "better", feel special by getting the "next big new thing", etc.
Load More Replies... Hugs out to all my fellow sad pandas using our weird sense of humour.
This post reminds me of an old Monty Python skit where folks were complaining about how hard their lives had been as children, each participant trying to one-up the previous one. "Every day we'd have to get up at 3 a.m., two hours before we went to bed, and lick the driveway clean..." Was there some kind of prize in the offing for who could sound the most pathetically miserable?
The world doesn't revolve around you. Learn some empathy.
Load More Replies...